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Saturday, 29 December 2007

Championship Semi-Finals in CIS Tonight

Minot State 77, Winnipeg 53 From the Wesmen web site: Matt Witwer (Minot State) 20 Player of the Game; Mike James (Winnipeg) 16. The Minot State Beavers advanced to the Championship Final of the MTS Wesmen Classic with a 77-53 victory over the host Winnipeg Wesmen. Senior forward Matt Witwer led the Beavers with a game high 20 points, including a apir of three pointers. Second year post Mike James led the Wesmen with 16 points. Minot State put the Wesmen in a hole early building a 19-10 opening quarter lead, which included 11 straight points and extended their lead to 40-25 at halftime. Winnipeg ran into foul trouble and costly turnovers in the second half as the Beavers extended their lead to 59-37 after three quarters of play. Minot State will meet the winner of the Calgary – Brock semi final in the championship final Sunday evening at 8:00 p.m. The host Wesmen will take on the semi final loser in the third place game Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

Western (9-7) 97, York (3-14) 70 The Mustangs had a game-deciding 26-12 run in the second quarter to lead by 22 at the half and then coasted to an easy win against the Lions to reach the championship game of the Ed Dearmon Memorial tournament at Ryerson in Toronto. Western shot 53% as a team from the floor, scoring in transition, off turnovers and inside as five players reached double figures for the winners. 6'5" Andrew Wedemire led the way with 17 points while 6'9" NCAA D1 transfer Colin Laforme added 16 points for Western. The Mustangs outrebounded York 35-22 including grabbing 17 "o" boards. York's 6'3" Tut Ruach again was at it again creating for himself and knocking in several tough perimeter shots to lead all scorers with 21 points while freshman Dalton Olinoski added 18 points including 5 3's, however this game was over early as the Mustangs await the winner of the U of T vs. Waterloo semi-final currently being played at Ryerson. The Blues, on the strength of five 3's from 6'2" Nick Magalas, starting for the injured Rob Paris, hold a commanding 37-17 lead late in the second quarter.

#9 Ottawa (13-3) 85, #5 Concordia (8-3) 81 OVERTIME In what was described by more than one observer as "war" marked with plenty of physical play and playoff-like intensity, the Gee-Gees blew an early third quarter 12 point lead but got out in transition in the extra frame to edge the Stingers in a great game in which both teams played extremely hard on virtually every possession. Ottawa finished the first half on a 9-2 run to lead by 5 after two quarters and then 6'5" David Labentowicz, who scored all 17 of his points after halftime, knocked down a pair of 3's and scored the first 8 points of the second half and the Gee-Gees looked to be on their way. But the Stingers had several runs left in them and 6'1" Damian Buckley led Concordia all the way back, scoring 17 in the second half and overtime to finish with a game-high 28 points and added 9 rebounds. In fact, the Stingers had a late two point lead but Labentowicz grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and knocked down 2 free throws with about 20 seconds left in the game to knot the score and send the game into overtime. 6'4" Josh Gibson-Bascombe led Ottawa with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists but had 6 turnovers and did not shoot the ball particularly well from the perimeter. 6'3" Sean Peter, who took a shot to the head in the second half that drew blood during the very physical game, finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds but only 4 after halftime including a key basket in transition in the overtime. Unfortunately for the Stingers, 6'3" Dwayne Buckley reinjured his knee (MCL) in regulation and did not finish the game. Stingers also lost 6'8" center Jamal Gallier , who had 13 points and 9 rebounds, to a twisted ankle and 6'5" Sebastien Martin, who suffered a broken nose in the game. For maybe the first time in his career, Ottawa's 6'9" center Dax Dessureault had to play through constant double teaming in the post and he responded well, finishing with 12 points and 9 rebounds and had several nice looks. The Stingers jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead and the teams traded baskets until the end of the first quarter which Concordia led 23-16. The Gee-Gees then finished the half on 9-2 run sparked by Peter and Josh Gibson-Bascombe. Both teams struggled from the foul line with Ottawa going 10 for 22 from the stripe including 2 for 6 during the 9-2 run to close the half as both Peter and Gibson-Bascombe could not convert "and 1's". The Gee-Gees went only 20 for 36 from the line for the game. 6'2" freshman Jacob Gibson-Bascombe added 12 for Ottawa while 5'9" sharpshooter Levi Vann had 11 for Concordia, going 3 for 10 from downtown. The Gee-Gees again played without starting 6'3" wing Donnie Gibson, out with a shoulder injury. Ottawa awaits the winner of St. FX and Dal in tomorrow's championship game; X grabbed an early 16-5 lead over the homeside and now leads Dal 35-30 at halftime of the second semi-final with the winner meeting Ottawa in the championship game tomorrow.

A pair of consolation round updates:McGill (9-6) 87, Ryerson (4-12) 79 Consolation side at the Ryerson tournament; McGill erased a one-point deficit after three quarters, outscoring the Rams 27-18 down the stretch to advance to the consolation final against Laval. The Redmen went to their bench in the second half and Yannick Chouinard went 7 for 11 from downtown for 24 points to lead the comeback. 6'7" Boris Bakovic had 29 points and 7 rebounds for Ryerson, going 11 for 22 from the floor in the loss.

Manitoba (3-13) 83, RMC (0-14) 54 The Paladins were in the game, down only 5 at halftime but the Bisons took off on a 20-4 run in the third quarter to lead by 21 about midway through the second half and then cruised to the win. Brian Crowe led Manitoba with 14 while Matthew Wookey had 16 for RMC. Eric Garcia (Manitoba) was named Player of the Game. From the Wesmen web site: The Manitoba Bisons earned a berth into the consolation final of the MTS Wesmen Classic with a 83-54 victory over the RMC Palladins. The Palladins were in this game in the first half only trailing by five points, 38-33. The Bisons played a strong second half outscoring RMC 45-21 and shooting 47% from the field in the half. Brian Crowe led the way for Manitoba with 14 points and five assists. Matthew Wookey led RMC with a game high 16 points, nine rebounds. Manitoba will face Acadia in the consolation final Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. RMC will battle the Brandon Bobcats in the seventh place game at 12:00 p.m.

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I enjoy Canadian University basketball and with this blog hope to contribute to sharing as much as information about CIS basketball as possible. Please share your comments and suggestions, positive or otherwise, by emailing marek.wacyk@sympatico.ca I also advise others on their financial well-being with RBC Dominion Securities as an Investment Advisor www.markwacyk.com